When someone is accused of a RICO offense, it means they may have violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The law was passed in order to help lawmakers decrease the amount of organized crime. However, it can also be applied to actual legitimate business as well. There are multiple different state and federal laws that are under the RICO Act. In order to be accused of a RICO offense, that person must be part of an organization that has engaged in at least two types of racketeering offenses within a certain amount of time. This establishes a pattern. A person can be convicted of RICO offenses even if he or she did not have anything to do with the crime. All that matters is that the person is associated with the organization that perpetrated the offense. Some of the offenses include (but are not limited to) securities fraud, mail fraud, extortion and drug trafficking. If a person is accused of a RICO offense that has resulted in damages or loss of money for the victim, then the victim has the ability to file a civil suit in regards to the matter and actually could receive triple the damages that were initially incurred.